The mountain temple had been abandoned for many years. The monks who once chanted sutras there had long since vanished. Only the enshrined bodhisattva remained seated in lotus posture, silently watching the four seasons turn across the mountains outside.
Today, unusually, the temple had guests. Dust was swept away and a little human warmth returned.
Two people sat opposite each other beside a campfire, roasting some unknown bird. Behind the roaring flames, a bird head covered in pink down kept stretching forward and shrinking back as it stared at the bird turning over the fire. There was not the slightest trace of grief for its fellow creature. From its lively, intelligent appearance, one might think it had already decided the humans beside the fire were its true species.
Pei Yuan Jin’s injuries looked frightening, but they did not interfere with his movements.
He removed the bird from the branch and handed it to Fu Xi Yan.
Fu Xi Yan had already restored his original appearance. Freed from the disguise, the skin of his face seemed reborn. He rubbed his cheeks, tore off a piece of meat, put it into his mouth, and looked nostalgic. “After all this time, the bird meat hasn’t evolved, and your cooking hasn’t improved either. Very loyal to tradition.”
Pei Yuan Jin took a small kettle and a pouch of tea leaves from their luggage. Fu Xi Yan spotted their medicinal herbs and remembered there was pepper among them. Delighted, he dug some out, crushed it between his fingers, and sprinkled it over the roast bird.
Pei Yuan Jin watched him take one bite. Fu Xi Yan’s face turned greener than Pei Yuan Jin’s tea.
Fu Xi Yan sighed. “Still needs salt.”
Fu Gui Gui was still peeking from the side. Fu Xi Yan tore off a piece and gave it to her. Fu Gui Gui accepted it happily, then immediately spat it back out. Her round eyes filled with disgust and astonishment, as though asking: You’re human. How can you eat something like this?
Fu Xi Yan stretched lazily and turned toward the doorway. Fine snowflakes drifted inside. It had started snowing.
He stood and leaned against the doorframe, watching the snow land and vanish almost instantly. “I wonder what the villagers will do after they discover Ban Qing Yu’s corpse.”
Pei Yuan Jin skipped the elaborate tea-brewing process and simply dropped the leaves into boiling water. “If Prince Yue’s people aren’t too stupid, they won’t waste the opportunity.”
Naturally, once the villagers found the corpse, they reported it to the authorities. The report passed upward through layer after layer until it finally reached Feng Huai Gu.
The death of a Martial King in the outskirts shocked him to the core.
He was a brilliant commander, but his own martial cultivation had stopped at the Bone Forging Stage. He did not understand martial paths or states of mind. He only knew that Martial Kings existed on a level far beyond his own. Whoever could kill Ban Qing Yu could also kill him.
Feng Huai Gu might be stubborn and autocratic, but even he understood that one needed to remain alive in order to continue being stubborn and autocratic. He ordered people to collect Ban Qing Yu’s body while simultaneously writing a memorial and sending it toward Lin’an by eight-hundred-li express.
The military adviser said, “The Holy Maiden was originally scheduled to hold a Dharma assembly today. Although notices have been posted announcing the cancellation, many common people still came from all over. Should we disperse them?”
Feng Huai Gu frowned. Ban Qing Yu’s death had frightened him in the way one creature grieves when another of its kind falls, but he still had no goodwill toward a Spirit Sect that interfered with court politics and even influenced the emperor himself. Wu Xuan Yin was about to become empress, so he did not dare openly criticize her. But Ban Qing Yu was already dead. He had fewer reservations. “Hah. A Holy Maiden’s Dharma assembly. Her principles sounded so righteous and grand, yet what she did was apparently enough to deserve a thunderbolt from Heaven.”
The adviser hurriedly said, “General, mind your words.”
Feng Huai Gu grew displeased. “There are only the two of us here. Why can’t I say it?” They were already insulting the dead behind closed doors. Was there really a need to preserve polite appearances for the sake of the deceased?
The adviser hesitated. “There are rumors in the city that… the killing of Ban Qing Yu was ordered by you.”
…
“Bullshit!”
Feng Huai Gu exploded.
Unfortunately, when Pei Yuan Jin fought Ban Qing Yu, Feng Huai Gu had happened to arrive at the inn. And when Pei Yuan Jin left carrying Ban Qing Yu’s corpse, Feng Huai Gu had been standing inside the inn.
From Feng Huai Gu’s perspective, his subordinates were only ordinary soldiers. They had arrived one step too late and failed to catch Pei Yuan Jin. They had also lacked the martial strength to stop Fu Xi Yan. But why would ordinary people believe that a great general capable of capturing Yuzhang could not stop one assassin?
Unless the assassin had been working for the general from the beginning. Otherwise, how could anyone explain why figures as important as the Holy Maiden and General Feng had appeared one after another at the same remote little inn?
Of course, Feng Huai Gu could simply tell the truth. He had gone there to buy a bird. But even in Fu Xi Yan’s previous life, when the internet spread information instantly, a rumor could be created with one sentence while disproving it wore out a person’s legs. This age was far worse.
After raging for a while, Feng Huai Gu gradually calmed under the adviser’s soothing words.
“Rumors have spread everywhere in a single day. Someone must be deliberately provoking things from the shadows,” the adviser analyzed. “I already ordered the innkeeper to keep quiet. He shouldn’t dare talk nonsense. So who else knew that you and the Holy Maiden visited the inn one after the other?”
Feng Huai Gu closed his eyes briefly. “Comb through Yuzhang again. Not a single Rongcheng spy is to remain.”
The adviser accepted the order.
“And post a notice for Pei Yuan Jin’s arrest.”
He was afraid Pei Yuan Jin might come to kill him. But he was even more afraid that the emperor and Wu Xuan Yin would believe the rumors and decide to take his life instead.
The adviser hesitated before asking, “If someone provides Pei Yuan Jin’s location…”
Feng Huai Gu gave him an impatient look.
The adviser instantly understood and hurriedly withdrew.
Naturally, if someone reported Pei Yuan Jin’s whereabouts, the information first had to be verified. With Pei Yuan Jin’s martial arts, after all that back-and-forth delay, would he still be standing in the same place waiting?
Yuzhang had descended into chaos because of Ban Qing Yu’s death. Meanwhile, the two culprits blew across the mouth of their kettle, taking turns drinking tea in perfect comfort.
Hot tea entered the stomach and warmed the entire body. It was deeply pleasant.
This was the first time since entering Southern Yu that Fu Xi Yan had truly relaxed. He leaned back against Pei Yuan Jin, stretched his legs straight, and narrowed his eyes while watching the snow outside grow heavier and heavier.
It resembled a moving white gauze curtain separating the temple interior from the world beyond.
At last he had the leisure to chat. “How did you know Ban Qing Yu’s state of mind had already shattered?”
Pei Yuan Jin wrapped his arms around him. “While you were at the inn, I went around nearby gathering information.”
Fu Xi Yan was astonished. Pei Yuan Jin, who avoided speaking whenever possible in front of him, had actually gone out to gather information on his own. Pretending to be jealous, Fu Xi Yan said, “Hmph. Then you must have talked to a lot of people.”
Pei Yuan Jin pinched his nose. “Other people did most of the talking.”
Fu Xi Yan noticed his fingertips were slightly cold. He caught Pei Yuan Jin’s hand and enclosed it in his own palms. “What did they say?”
Pei Yuan Jin smiled as he felt the warmth from Fu Xi Yan’s hands. “Ban Qing Yu has spent the past few months occupied with charity work and Dharma assemblies.”
Charity was naturally a good thing. But if Ban Qing Yu was doing charity, Fu Xi Yan could think of only one proverb: A weasel paying a New Year’s visit to a chicken never comes with good intentions.
Pei Yuan Jin had reached the same conclusion. “She has always refused to act unless there is profit. If she organizes charity work and Dharma assemblies, there must be some benefit in it for her. At the Martial King Stage, the benefit she needs is the tempering of her state of mind.”
There was nothing wrong with that in itself.
The path Pei Yuan Jin was currently following also tempered his state of mind. The difference was that Pei Yuan Jin understood the lightning tribulation and changes in his true essence as necessary stages along the way, so he could accept them calmly.
Fu Xi Yan asked, “Then how did you know her state of mind had shattered?”
Pei Yuan Jin said, “I listened to the content of one of her Dharma assemblies. It was extremely shallow. Even if she had forced her way into the Martial King Stage and therefore possessed an unstable foundation, she had still spent many years at the Dao-Entry Stage before that. She should have had more depth than this.”
Pei Yuan Jin’s martial path seemed to be known by everyone under Heaven only because his path of advancing without retreat was openly visible. A path like Fu Xi Yan’s “elusive one,” by contrast, was much harder for outsiders to understand.
Ban Qing Yu’s Dao of All Living Beings had also only gradually become known after the new-city scheme. She had relied on the lives of the masses to force an attempted ascension, only to fail. Reaching the Martial King Stage had already been the fallback result. There was an essential difference between her and those who advanced to Martial King steadily through their own strength.
That was why, when Wu Xuan Yin returned, Ban Qing Yu surrendered her position immediately without a trace of hesitation. She simply did not possess the foundation required for a direct confrontation.
The new-city scheme had taken years to prepare. Martial Gods had yielded. Many factions had worked together. Everything had been for the sake of opening a road straight to Heaven. When it failed at the final step, Ban Qing Yu lost more than her road to ascension. She lost years of obsession and the dream shared by everyone who had invested themselves in it. It was entirely reasonable that her state of mind would collapse.
Someone else might already have suffered cultivation deviation and become utterly dispirited. Ban Qing Yu, however, quickly found a new path out of despair. She was rebuilding her Realm of All Living Beings.
Before, she had used the souls of all living beings. This time, she was absorbing the collective will of all living beings. That was why she performed charity, formed good ties, held Dharma assemblies, and spread teachings.
Ordinary people naturally knew nothing of this. They only remembered the Holy Maiden’s kindness. Pei Yuan Jin, meanwhile, had combined clues and guesses to reconstruct most of the truth.
Fu Xi Yan sighed. “Everyone knows the story of pulling seedlings upward to help them grow, but everyone still follows in the footsteps of that man from Song.”
Elio’s Notes: “Pulling seedlings to help them grow” (拔苗助长) comes from a Mencius story about a man from the state of Song who tried to make his crops grow faster by physically pulling them upward, only to kill them. It describes ruining something by forcing progress too quickly.
Pei Yuan Jin said, “Those involved are confused. Those watching from outside see clearly.”
Fu Xi Yan looked at the snowstorm beyond the doorway, now covering the world in white. Anyone caught inside it would have difficulty knowing which direction to walk. Were the martial artists of this world not travelers lost in exactly such a storm?
Some guarded the line at the bottom of their hearts. Others used any means necessary to escape, only to end up setting themselves on fire and suffering the consequences.
Thinking of this, Fu Xi Yan still felt unwilling. “What a pity. Ban Qing Yu is dead, but she’s still a Holy Maiden in the eyes of the people.” There might even be deceived civilians crying and protesting on her behalf.
He unconsciously played with Pei Yuan Jin’s fingers. “Now I finally understand why transmigrators are always willing to spend ridiculous amounts of money starting newspapers. Profit comes second. The important thing is not letting ordinary people be deceived. But newspapers require literacy, and in the end that comes back to basic education… So really, what we need is to build schools.”
Fu Xi Yan began calculating his household wealth. Pei Yuan Jin had already handed over his money and accounts, which was a substantial fortune. Together with the betrothal gifts and dowry, it should be enough to make schools bloom everywhere.
Still, money could not only flow outward.
“Glass manufacturing needs to go onto the schedule. Once we get back…”
A grand blueprint for investing in manufacturing slowly unfolded in front of Pei Yuan Jin.
“A huge potential market.” Replace all the paper windows!
“A complete sales network.” The Four-Way Merchant Alliance!
“Professional management talent.” Madam Fu!
…
Fu Xi Yan became completely immersed in his dream of building a commercial empire. Pei Yuan Jin asked curiously, “What does glass look like?”
That was not hard to explain. This world already had colored glaze. But the question struck one of Fu Xi Yan’s sore spots from the side. He could not guarantee he could actually manufacture glass successfully. He had watched the process before, but only in the most superficial way, no better than his understanding of soap. Actually trying to produce it would probably be even harder than making soap.
Fu Xi Yan sighed. “I really should have studied more.” If he had ever studied materials science, he would not be sitting here with nothing but the concept of turning sand into gold and absolutely no idea how to begin.
The snowstorm on the mountain eventually spread into Yuzhang. At that same moment, a man-made storm was already raging inside the city. Soldiers charged through streets and alleys. Lodgers, homeless people, anyone of unknown origin… The purge that had happened only recently began again, this time even more severe.
At the city gate, several merchants paid enormous bribes before being allowed through a gate that officially permitted entry but not exit. To escape, they had abandoned even their goods. They rushed miserably into the blinding snow.
One of the gate soldiers watched his superior happily count banknotes and felt uneasy, afraid the higher authorities might punish them.
His superior did not care. “Orders say to clean the city out. Hah. If we chase people away, isn’t that still cleaning?” His reasoning was simple. As long as the people ran away and were no longer in the city, no one could catch them doing anything wrong. And if no one caught them, no one could convict him.
In practice, he was not entirely wrong.
Feng Huai Gu was already overwhelmed by Ban Qing Yu’s death and the rumors among the people. He did not genuinely want to spare energy chasing the former Regent’s remnants far south of the Jinjiang River.
He knew perfectly well that Prince Yue’s existence harmed Southern Yu and the emperor. But it was not entirely disadvantageous to Feng Huai Gu himself. In a world dominated by martial artists, only war could prove the value of armies.
A northern campaign was another option. But the beginning of any northern campaign required crossing the Yangtze, and Feng Huai Gu was inferior in naval warfare to veteran commanders from water-force backgrounds. Therefore, he needed to handle the war against Prince Yue with great precision.
Rapidly taking Yuzhang had demonstrated his ability to the emperor and the court. From this point onward, however, he could not advance too quickly. If he won victory after victory with ease, people would not conclude that he was a military genius. They would conclude Rongcheng was too weak to matter.
So after the merchants left the gate, no pursuers followed. They successfully reached the mountain locals called West Mountain.
West Mountain was enormous and unfriendly to newcomers, especially with visibility swallowed by snow. Yet this group still managed to find the route toward the summit through a world reduced to one blank color.
The path was rough. By the time they reached the mountain temple, several of them had fallen more times than they could count and accumulated countless scrapes and cuts. But they had arrived.
In the blackness of the snowy mountain, the temple fire was the only source of warmth.
Yet the merchants who had crossed the mountain did not dare simply enter. Not because they did not know who was inside. Because they knew exactly who was inside.
“Territorial Security Office agents Two-Three-Two, Two-Three-Three, Two-Three-Five, and Two-Three-Six pay our respects to Young Master Pei of the Immortal Treasury Palace.”
Only Pei Yuan Jin’s identity had been exposed in the previous battle, so they did not recklessly call out the other person.
Fu Xi Yan opened the temple door. Once darkness fell, he had lost interest in watching the snow and closed it. Now the instant it opened, wind and snow howled inside, bending the campfire nearly flat. The words Fu Xi Yan had intended to say were instantly reduced to one tenth their original length. “Come in.”
The four Territorial Security Office agents froze when they saw his face, then hurriedly called, “Greetings, Mirror Master.” Although Northern Zhou and Southern Yu were separated by a river, news always grew wings. Rumors that the newly appointed Master of the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror possessed incomparable beauty had already spread across both sides of the Yangtze.
Their posture immediately became even more respectful. Before stepping inside, they even carefully stamped the snow from their boots.
Fu Xi Yan yielded the best places near the fire. “Sit. With snow this heavy, I thought you might not find us. Looks like this thing really is useful.”
He took a hollow metal sphere from inside his clothes. Inside was an insect resembling a bee. He tossed it to one of the men. That man was holding a similar sphere. When the two insects drew near each other, their antennae began trembling without pause, like spouses reunited after years apart.
These were contact insects given to them by the Director of the Territorial Security Office when Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin agreed to be recruited and infiltrate Yuzhang. Each side could sense changes in the direction of the other insect, somewhat like using a compass.
The agent saw Fu Xi Yan return the device and immediately understood that the cooperation between the Territorial Security Office and the two men had ended. His heart tightened. “His Highness Prince Yue has waited in Rongcheng for the two of you for a long time. Please, you must honor us with a visit.”
Fu Xi Yan asked curiously, “How do you know that?” Pei Yuan Jin’s identity had only been exposed yesterday. Could Qin Zhao send an invitation today? What, did they make phone calls?
The agent said, “As early as two months ago, the entire Territorial Security Office had already prepared to receive you. His Highness ordered that the moment you crossed into our territory, every standard of treatment was to equal his own, and all of us were to obey your commands.”
That degree of trust was difficult not to be moved by.
Fu Xi Yan thought about how, after entering Southern Yu, he had not only disguised himself but had even hidden his name while moving through Prince Yue’s territory. Compared with Qin Zhao’s openness, his own behavior really had been somewhat less straightforward.
After thinking for a moment, he relented slightly. “Did Prince Yue give any other instructions?”
The agent shook his head, then added, “Young Master Pei and Mirror Master are both heroes of the age. We await your commands.”
Fu Xi Yan looked toward Pei Yuan Jin.
Pei Yuan Jin was completely absorbed in brewing tea. At Fu Xi Yan’s suggestion, he had specially collected clean snow water to see whether it produced a different flavor.
But Pei Yuan Jin was always sensitive to Fu Xi Yan’s gaze. Without looking away for long, he said, “Deliver a letter for me.”
The agent hurriedly said, “His Highness has long awaited news. Once he receives your letter, he will certainly be delighted.”
Pei Yuan Jin shook his head. “It isn’t for him.”
The agent froze.
Fu Xi Yan remembered Pei Yuan Jin saying he still had enough strength to kill one Martial God and gave a quiet sigh, uncertain whether he should be pleased or worried. Sure enough, Pei Yuan Jin said, “For Wu Xuan Yin.”
The agent said, “Please instruct us, Young Master Pei.”
Fu Xi Yan was still imagining how one ought to write a legendary challenge letter with phrases such as under the full moon and atop such-and-such mountain peak. Pei Yuan Jin had already delivered the entire message in two domineering words. “Challenge her.”
Fu Xi Yan: “…” Yes. Very Pei Yuan Jin.
The Territorial Security Office agents arrived under moonlight and left again as dawn began to brighten the horizon.
Although Fu Xi Yan had tactfully expressed that he did not want to cooperate too deeply with Rongcheng, Pei Yuan Jin’s challenge letter alone was already tremendously useful to them. Especially because Ban Qing Yu, previously regarded as the Spirit Sect’s second-strongest expert, had already died.
To tell the truth, many people in Rongcheng, even subordinates fiercely loyal to Prince Yue, had never truly believed they could win this rebellion. They walked the road largely because of loyalty.
In this world, once martial artists reached the Martial King or Martial God level, they were practically no longer human. Several such existences stood beside the young Southern Yu emperor. Prince Yue had none.
It was not that he could not find any. His requirements were simply too difficult. The Martial King he wanted had to stand beyond worldly affairs and refuse to interfere in mortal politics. That condition was inherently contradictory.
If someone truly stood beyond the world and refused involvement in worldly matters, why would they ever step in to help him?
This had caused enormous controversy inside Rongcheng. Prince Yue had insisted, so the dispute was temporarily set aside. But if the Spirit Sect ever deployed its highest combat forces and Rongcheng had no way to answer, the argument would inevitably erupt again.
Then, several months earlier, the new-city case broke open. Many experts from the Immortal Treasury Palace risked themselves in battle against half the martial world’s strongest figures. Qin Zhao personally entered danger despite everyone trying to stop him. And at last he invited the first Martial King willing to stand on Rongcheng’s side: Pei Yuan Jin.
From that point onward, everything Pei Yuan Jin and Fu Xi Yan did became a matter of common concern throughout Rongcheng. After the Chen family steward delivered Prince Yue’s letter, practically everyone waited for the pair to arrive. A reply came. The people did not.
Just when anxiety over the delay was steadily increasing, Pei Yuan Jin finally swung the first truly earth-shaking sword of his journey through Southern Yu.
One sword slew the Holy Maiden.
Ordinary people knew nothing about Ban Qing Yu’s shattered state of mind. They only knew that battles between Martial Kings usually ended with both sides dead, or one dead and the other heavily injured. Pei Yuan Jin, however, had been seen with their own eyes brewing tea and speaking normally afterward.
Was that not practically unscathed?
Rongcheng’s morale soared. The myth that Martial Kings and Martial Gods could never be defeated was broken.
The man who broke that myth was now walking along the official road toward Lin’an.
Since the entire world was already watching them, continuing to hide would only look awkward. Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin therefore walked openly and without disguise. Sometimes passing carriages even stopped voluntarily and asked whether they wanted a ride.
Fu Xi Yan knew he had become a thorn in Southern Yu’s flesh and an irritation in its eye. He did not want to drag innocent people into trouble, so he politely refused and continued walking on his own two legs toward the rising sun.
When they passed Fuliang County, Fu Xi Yan decided to enter the county seat and look around. The main reason was to buy new clothes. Their luggage had been reduced steadily throughout the journey as old clothes were replaced and discarded, and now very little remained.
He said, “So the most troublesome part of traveling for work really is dealing with laundry.”
The moment they entered the county seat, the magistrate received word. The main reason was that the two men were far too striking. Wherever they walked, people turned to stare in amazement.
The magistrate, however, did not dare act rashly. Pei Yuan Jin’s wanted notice had already spread across Southern Yu after being distributed from Yuzhang. But what did that matter? Someone who could draw heavenly lightning with a single sword and kill Ban Qing Yu was hardly a criminal a county magistrate could personally arrest. The story that Ban Qing Yu had been struck by lightning eventually spread as well. Almost immediately, several different versions of her death appeared.
On top of that, Feng Huai Gu forcibly dispersed the supporters gathered outside the prefectural yamen to demand justice for Ban Qing Yu. Rumors that the two had been at odds spread just as quickly. Ban Qing Yu might be dead, but during these few days she repeatedly died, came back to life in rumor, and died all over again inside people’s mouths.
Fu Xi Yan bought a pile of winter clothes from a ready-made clothing shop. Most were comfortable, practical, and inexpensive. Only one set cost an outrageous amount, and Fu Xi Yan insisted Pei Yuan Jin try it on.
Looking at the heroic young man reflected in the bronze mirror, Fu Xi Yan admired the outfit with great satisfaction. “This is battle gear. If we’re walking the red carpet, we absolutely have to outshine everyone!”